The Definition of Love
by pandanarchy
Summary: Aoba and Clear fluff. One-shot. Clear mysteriously goes missing in the middle of the night, and returns the next morning with a surprise for Aoba.


"Clear..."

The veranda door had been left open again. The gentle breeze that rolled in lightly caressed the curtains, causing them to slowly sway back and forth, allowing a thin strip of moonlight to penetrate the darkness every now and then. Aoba rolled over sleepily. In the back of his mind, he welcomed the fresh air into his stuffy bedroom, but the cool night air was also harsh against his bare back.

"Clear..." he mumbled again, reaching out for the warmth of that other body. He wanted the soothing arms around him, the slender fingers combing through his hair, the breathing that slowed to match his. But the space beside him was empty, still warm, with the imprint of the body still there. Aoba's own body immediately tensed, a tight knot forming in the pit of his stomach. He was suddenly acutely awake.

He sat up in the darkness, rubbing his eyes. "Clear?" he called out softly. For a moment, shadows danced teasingly across the floor and the rustling of trees was the only thing that met his ears. His eyes fell on Ren, who slumbered on in the corner of the room, oblivious to everything around him. His room was wrapped in a blanket of silence and unease that Aoba couldn't shake off. He narrowed his eyes, squinting in the gloomy light, but it was obvious that he was alone.

With a deep sigh, he flopped backwards onto his bed and let his heavy eyelids fall closed. The edges of his mind were fuzzy with weariness. He could feel sleep rolling over him slowly, starting with a tingling sensation in his feet and a heavy sensation in his limbs. Half of him wanted to give in and lose himself to a dream, but the other half wanted to stay awake and wait for Clear to come back.

"Aoba-san."

A cool hand cupped his face, and when Aoba's eyes reopened, he was greeted by a set of curious pink eyes gazing back at him. "Sorry I'm late. I heard your voice," Clear explained unnecessarily. A tender smile tugged at the corners of his lips as he took in Aoba's features. It gave him a perverse sense of pleasure to know that he was the one Aoba called for in the middle of the night. A warm sensation spread through his chest when he thought about Aoba's lips forming his name.

"Morning," Aoba mumbled, blinking and propping himself up on one elbow. With blurry eyes, he looked Clear up and down. Satisfied that nothing was amiss, he yawned lazily and waited for Clear to explain where he'd been last night. However, Clear's mind was somewhere else entirely. He was too busy thinking about Aoba to even notice the expectant glare Aoba was giving him.

He loved seeing Aoba in the mornings, when he was sleepy and his brain was only half-functioning (or so Aoba said, but Clear highly doubted a human being's motor skills would work with only half a brain). He loved hearing Aoba's voice when it was low and thick with sleep, when his words jumbled together. He loved Aoba's eyes when he blinked slowly when he was struggling to make sense of something, or the way they crinkled at the edges when he smiled, or gleamed when he laughed. He loved Aoba's hair when it was messy and dishevelled, or wet and tangled from the bath.

He just...he'd known it for a while, but he just really loved Aoba. He couldn't explain it or put it into precise words. The concept of 'love' was still fairly confusing to him, but he somehow knew that was the only way to describe how he felt.

"It's too early for that," Aoba interrupted, catching onto Clear's train of thought. He'd seen that expression enough times – the one that Clear wore when he was admiring him – to know what words would follow. Despite his tone, he couldn't hide the smile that played across his lips.

"Ah, sorry, Aoba-san," Clear apologised, offering a small smile in return. He'd wanted to say it, to tell Aoba what he was thinking. It felt easy and natural. But if Aoba said to wait, he would wait.

"Nevermind that," Aoba said, his sentence punctuated by another wide yawn. "Where were you last night?" Straight to the chase. He was still too tired to put up with Clear's usual riddles. He gave Clear a look that he hoped conveyed the message well enough, although he wasn't sure his facial muscles were doing his bidding. He may have just ended up grimacing worse than he did when he stubbed a toe.

Regardless of whatever expression Aoba was wearing, Clear's tender gaze didn't waver. "Well, you see..." he began, but his voice trailed off. "Aoba-san, please tell me, what does it feel like to be in love with someone?"

"What do you mean?" Aoba replied, expectedly perplexed. "You always tell me you love me."

Clear hesitated, biting his lip. He had to choose his words very carefully if he wanted to avoid offending Aoba. "Yes, however from my understanding, there is a difference between 'loving someone' and 'being in love with someone.' I'm uncertain about which is true."

Aoba shrugged. "They could both be true. I guess...loving someone is when you care about them. I mean, you can love someone platonically. But when you're in love with someone...it goes beyond just that. Your whole outlook on life changes. Everything seems brighter around them. When they say your name, it has a different ring to it. Your heart flutters and you never want to be away from them. You want to see them smile and make them laugh and you want to be happy with them. You would do anything for them, do anything to protect them. You'd sacrifice yourself if you had to. Yeah. Something like that..."

"I see," Clear said thoughtfully, his head bobbing up and down. "Well then, Aoba-san..."

Aoba groaned. "Don't say it...You don't have to say it..."

"I'm in love with you," Clear finished, grinning triumphantly.

Damn, he said it. Aoba met Clear's eyes nervously. He'd never been able to muster the courage to tell Clear how he felt before. Of course, it must have been obvious, but Aoba just couldn't get the words out of his throat. Every time Clear said "I love you" Aoba had felt a pang of guilt for being unable to say the same back. But he felt it. God, did he feel it. He would do anything for Clear.

And if he didn't say it now, he'd never be able to forgive himself. Clear's face told him that nothing was expected of him; Clear would love him unconditionally. Aoba shook his head slowly.

"Me too..." he admitted quietly, his voice almost inaudible but he knew Clear would hear him. "But that still doesn't explain, where were you last night?" he asked, clearing his throat and hurriedly changing the subject, staring directly at the ground past Clear as a red blush began to spread noticeably across his cheeks.

Clear's smile lit up the room. It made Aoba's stomach flip and he wanted to take back what he'd just said. He wanted to tell Clear that he loved him more than anything. That he was in love with him. That he had been for a while now. He wanted to exchange his crappy love confession for something better, something more meaningful. But instead, he found himself swallowing his words once again.

"Aoba-san," Clear said, drawing his attention to the present. "Because I feel that I'm in love with you...I decided to get you a present."

"A present?" Aoba echoed, cocking an eyebrow. He hardly felt like he deserved anything like that.

"Yes," Clear replied, another grin slowly stretching across his face. He dug around in one of his coat pockets for a moment and produced a small box that fit in the palm of his hand. It was wrapped in gold paper which shimmered faintly as it passed from Clear's hand to Aoba's. "Please open it," Clear instructed, his eyes never wavering from Aoba's face.

Aoba's fingers fumbled with the box, but he finally opened it and furrowed his brow in further confusion. "What...?"

"It's my original memory chip," Clear explained. "I left last night to retrieve it from the warehouse of the man who helped to fix me. Of course, it contains no data now, since everything has been transferred to the memory chip that I use now. But...I wanted you to have...a piece of me..."

"Clear..." Aoba was up and moving before he even realised it. "I'm in love with you." The words fell awkwardly out of his mouth but that didn't make them any less true. His lips clashed messily with Clear's and at that moment, Clear was the only thing that mattered to him.

Clear returned Aoba's kiss with all the tenderness he could muster. He promised himself that from then on when Aoba called he wouldn't leave him waiting.


End file.
